Seymour unlikely to play with hamstring injury

Richard Seymour missed his second straight day of practice Thursday with a hamstring injury, and the veteran defensive tackle is not sure if he’ll even be a game-time decision Sunday in Baltimore.

“I don’t know, I’m not sure,” Seymour said. “Hammies are tough. I’ve had them throughout my career. The only thing you can do is work hard. When it’s ready I’ll be back.”

Allen has had a tendency to take an overly cautious approach at times with some of his injured players but the rookie head coach made it clear that’s not the case with Seymour.

“He couldn’t practice today if he had to,” Allen said flatly. “We’ll see where he is tomorrow.”

If Seymour can’t play, the Raiders would be forced to use a patchwork lineup that also has some health issues. Backup defensive tackle Desmond Bryant was pulled out of last week’s loss to Tampa Bay with an irregular heartbeat, while defensive ends Matt Shaughnessy and Dave Tollefson are nursing sore shoulders.

The Raiders need all the healthy bodies they can find if they are to have any hope of slowing down Rice, a two-time Pro Bowl running back who is fifth in the AFC in rushing with 622 yards and six touchdowns.

It doesn’t help that Oakland is coming off its worst showing of the season after allowing Tampa Bay rookie Doug Martin to rush for four touchdowns and a franchise record 251 yards.

“We have two second halves of football games this year in our eight games where we didn’t tackle well,” defensive coordinator Jason Tarver said. “It’s about run fits and mechanics and those things that we talk about all the time. …

“Sometimes you learn what to do and sometimes you learn what not to do, both in coaching and in life. Sometimes things are bad, this is what we tell the players about, what you do with bad, you turn it into good. What do you do with good, you turn it into great.